Egypt national head coach Raul Hector Cuper has in a special way appreciated his players for the great spirited display at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
The Argentine national was addressing the media in Libreville shortly after his team’s 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory against Burkina Faso in the semifinals at Stade De L’Amitie on Wednesday night.
Speaking Spanish, Cuper told the attentive media through an interpreter that their scouting policy on Burkina Faso worked to perfection.
I want to thank the players of Egypt for the brave display. I also want to thank my comrade Paulo Duarte, the coach of Burkina Faso for the true sportsmanship spirit.
The strategy to win:
Cuper singled out key elements that helped his team win on the day.
We studied our opponents, knew their strong and weak points.
We knew that we could not possess the ball as they do but we could hurt them on the break and it worked.
Also, I thank our captain and goalkeeper, Elhadary.
Essam Kamal Tawfik Elhadary, 44, dived to his left twice to halt fellow goalie Herve Kouakou Koffi and Bertrand Isidore Traore’s weak kicks to give Egypt a 4-3 victory on penalty after a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
The added extra 30 minutes also witnessed the scores remain level before post-match penalties were called to decide who makes the final.
During normal time, it was Egypt who had taken the lead against the run of play when AS Roma forward Ibrahim Salah Abdelfattah Mohamed Gad beat a diving Koffi with a curling ball from 20 yards in the 64th minute.
ASEC Abijan towering forward Aristide Bance restored parity eight minutes later when he chested controlled team captain Charles Kabore’s perfect chip before he slotted home past El Hadary.
It was the first goal that El Hadary conceded after 433 minutes at the tournament.
Egypt will face the winner between Cameroon Indomitable Lions and Ghana Black Stars who play later in the night on Thursday.
Should Ghana progress to the finals, the two countries will be facing off for the second time in the tournament having faced off in the group phase.
Egypt won on the day 1-0 courtesy of Muhamed Kabreba’s 88th minute strike.
Cuper believes the rest days between their semifinal clash and the final is good enough for recovery.
We shall recovery well because the game against Burkina Faso was very tough and all our players were exhausted having played 120 minutes of football with a physical side.
Also, we have to monitor closely (on television) when Ghana and Cameroon are playing.
The final is slated for this Sunday at Stade De L’Amitie in Libreviile city.